The impending reality of virtual reality

Strap on your headsets, Dallas. It’s about to get real at Digital Fight Club powered by Accenture Digital, where Nick DiCarlo, VP of Immersive Products & Virtual Reality at Samsung, is set to take on Dale Carman, Executive Creative Director & Partner at Groove Jones, to debate the future of virtual reality (VR). Will it be mobile-first, or will PC-based VR reign supreme? Join us at Digital Fight Club on August 24 to find out!

As we continue to honor the first rule of Digital Fight Club (*coughs* talk about Digital Fight Club), we're excited to ring the bell on our next fight: the future of virtual reality (VR).

For the uninitiated, VR is a technology that allows people to explore and interact with virtual environments (both real and imagined) through sight, sound, touch and even smell. For the 55.8 million VR users worldwide who will own the technology in 2016, however, this technology is—in all reality—a dream come true.

Given its potential to immerse users in virtual environments, VR is opening up a whole new world of experiences throughout business and consumer culture. Over the past year alone, The New York Times used VR to create immersive documentaries, the Air Force used it to simulate flight experiences and Lockheed Martin even used it to take students on a virtual bus ride to Mars. When combined with the significant investment from companies like Samsung, Facebook, PlayStation, and Google, many industry experts agree that the technology is here to stay.

But in a world that is becoming increasingly mobile-first, VR currently finds itself at an inflection point between PC and mobile users. Will mobile, given its computer-processing trajectory and mass-adoption be the mainstream version of VR or will it be PC-based VR and VR gaming that leads the way? At Digital Fight Club powered by Accenture Digital we’re excited to welcome industry heavyweights Nick DiCarlo, VP of Immersive Products & Virtual Reality at Samsung, and Dale Carman, Executive Creative Director at Groove Jones, to debate the issue. Join us August 24 and get your tickets today!

In the first corner is Nick DiCarlo

Nick DiCarlo leads Samsung's Virtual Reality (VR) efforts in the United States, including strategy across channels, hardware, services, sales and partnerships. Samsung sees virtual reality as a long‐term opportunity in a range of industries and will contribute by helping VR become more accessible to more people through simple and compelling experiences. DiCarlo was named in Variety’s “Digital Entertainment Impact Report: 30 Execs to Watch” feature in January 2016.

In his previous role at Samsung, Nick served as VP of Product Planning and Product Marketing, guiding the product strategies that have powered Samsung USA’s growth in smartphones and tablets, including the launch of iconic new franchises of Galaxy S, Galaxy Note and Gear.

And in this corner is Dale Carman

Dale Carman has been in the creative business for 30 years. He was the original co-founder of Reel FX where he grew the company from 25 people to over 350 people over 25 years.

His creative direction touched all parts of the business from major motion pictures, to TV commercials to theme park rides to virtual reality. Carman’s endeavor into virtual reality began over 2 years ago funding a Kickstarter which later became Oculus Rift.

Dale is the co-founder of Groove Jones and serves as the Executive Creative Director.